My Bridgeway Biostimulant trial

jonnyjon

Member
A German man recently said that a lot of the land around Berlin has been destroyed by ad waste. Organic manures are good when managed carefully but are in no way a replacement for the biology that a grazing animal brings.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
What extracts the most energy the fastest ? Cow or ad plant ?

The AD plant. A ruminant's stomach is one of the most inefficient energy conversion devices, though will digest materials little else will.

No buggering about with milk prices, stockmen etc. Either. Add a feed in tariff and what's not to like?
 

juke

Member
Location
DURHAM
The AD plant. A ruminant's stomach is one of the most inefficient energy conversion devices, though will digest materials little else will.

No buggering about with milk prices, stockmen etc. Either. Add a feed in tariff and what's not to like?

Life is empty without cows...
 

jonnyjon

Member
Please, enlighten me.

6kg maize for 1 kg of beef. Feed conversion ratios in poultry and pigs are less than 2. In fish it is nearly 1:1
The whole thing is way way to complex for any person to understand, you can't judge a cows efficiency based on intake v meat or milk output. It takes no account of the nutrient density of the food produced plus a lot of other stuff we simply don't understand, this stuff is beyond our understanding and far too complex for man to figure out. I've heard the vegan argument that water usage by animals v plants is so much more inefficient blah blah, it is not that simple, and it's way beyond me to explain
 

oil barron

Member
Location
Aberdeenshire

fudge

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire.
The AD plant. A ruminant's stomach is one of the most inefficient energy conversion devices, though will digest materials little else will.

No buggering about with milk prices, stockmen etc. Either. Add a feed in tariff and what's not to like?
Well I don’t really think feed in tariff is necessary as the cost of on shore wind and solar falls.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
The whole thing is way way to complex for any person to understand, you can't judge a cows efficiency based on intake v meat or milk output. It takes no account of the nutrient density of the food produced plus a lot of other stuff we simply don't understand, this stuff is beyond our understanding and far too complex for man to figure out. I've heard the vegan argument that water usage by animals v plants is so much more inefficient blah blah, it is not that simple, and it's way beyond me to explain

Ok, so you're dodging the question.My comment was a broadly sweeping statement and I hoped for a reaction!

Ruminants make use of farm land that nothing else will - that's one of the holes in the vegan argument. Their inefficient feed conversion ratio means we have a good demand for feed grains. In well managed grazing (mob stocking) the manure is more evenly distributed and there is greater use of the growing fodder.

On my farm, just putting the water & outer fencing in place runs to hundreds of thousands of pounds for grazing that has a lower economic return than crops. It is hard to justify the investment - I can make more doing it with cover crops and bought in manures, accepting that a stock farm is buying in fertiliser in the form of animal feeds that helps balance the export of nutrients aboard grain lorries. A return of livestock will have to be gradual, with electric fencing, some water bowsers with the gradual investment in corridor/access fencing & water mains.
 

Daniel

Member
Whats in it?

Smoke and mirrors mainly:
234EF778-9C7F-4774-B655-72FE9917B5D0.jpeg


No detailed information as to what levels of which elements, but as I say when we ‘tested’ it it seemed to help. Now we can weigh plots fairly accurately it needs testing again I think.
 

Chalky

Member
Quite; as per Brisel!

The vegan argument often centers around the 'grasslands & savannahs' being home to methane producing planet wreckers-why not eat plant products instead. The fact that if humanity tried to eat any of said grasses rather than the animal products from, it would probably die a gut impacted death-or at the very least starve, seems beyond them. Grasslands are completely unproductive food sources for monogastrics who do not eat animal products.

Cellulose is a bitch to do anything useful with-so inefficiency is best of a bad job, but they do pretty well on it. eh? Likewise AD plants are seeded with bacteria species that likewise can and do love nothing more than digesting cellulose-assuming that we are talking about farm fed digesters here of course. The whole thing is cyclic; what goes in, comes out as 'waste' apart from carbon & hydrogen as methane, so no loss of crop nutrients there then. There are amounts of sulphur & nitrogen products as well to be fair, but very much trace amounts that some plants scrub out if feeding gas to grid for example. Some better qualified people will be able to give %'s. But, all P K Mg Zn Cu B Ca Fe etc etc etc that goes in, comes out as liquor or fibre. The money bit that is sold is C & H

Not sure it is livestock per se that is good for land, they remove plenty of nutrient that is never returned-where does the meat & milk come from? We are all tending to assume that it is grazing stock that are great, and I am not argueing against it. Brisel's points re. where farms are now is all too true re infrastructure. Is it not the presence of grass as a multi year crop that we miss??

Off post here-so apologise.
 

Tom H

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Vale of Belvoir
AD gets a bad name from the 'bad' people in the industry. It's the same in farming. Done properly, sustainably and sensibly it's fantastic news for a farm and its soils. As Lee mentions above. The benefits are very similar to having cattle on the farm. Topping one up with an element of food waste or soup is the icing on the cake too. It's carbon cycle is actually very good, as is the ratio for energy in, for energy out. If they are run as they should, with a sensible crop grown locally.

Just to add, I'm told sludge cake will also be "killing my soil" having used a vast amount for 6 years. I can report that this is far from the case.
 

Tom H

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Vale of Belvoir
Back to Bridgeway. We did a 5ha trial last season 2l/ha all applied at the four T timings. The first two applications way before any stress had arrived in crop. All monitored from NDVI drones, tissue samples, N-sensor biomass and yield mapping and weighbridge. It brought nothing to the party. Nothing

This season I'm doing it again, Full rate this time. So rate can't be blamed. It's going to need to work though. If my memory serves me right. that £30/ha per application! Buys you a lot of muck!!

I was told last week that, if used on a very health soil in a cereal rotation the chances are you will see nothing..... That must be it - all that AD waste and biosolids. ;-)

I believe it's on sugar beet and potatoes where it's more exciting. I will also try it on Maize.
 

Chalky

Member
Echo the above. The precursor product to Bridgeway that showed great potential in beet was an Eastern European amino acid mix-at the time animal derived.

Interagro et al cannot bang the stress drum, then when challenged with a stress year and no positive results(as per last year) regurgitate the same rhetoric-but they do!
 
Hi, I’m Stuart Sutherland, Technical Manager at Interagro and will be following Clive’s Bridgeway experience with great interest. Also here to answer any technical questions you might have.


Delivering value through innovation is at the heart of what we do, and that means working collaboratively with farmers, on their soils, on their cropping systems to really put our products to the test. We were therefore delighted when Clive got in touch with a proposal to really put Bridgeway through its paces.


We were keen to broaden the number of scenarios Clive is testing because with the experience we have developed and with a greater understanding now of the role of amino acids in plant health, we strongly believe that early applications at T0 and T1 are key to protect potential. Is it likely that Bridgeway applications will need topping up as the season develops? – Yes, quite possibly, particularly if conditions later in the season become stressful for the crop. However, none of us have a crystal ball so we will see what happens. It is better to have the Bridgeway on to protect against stress.


As with farming generally, biostimulants aren’t an exact science, it does depend on the field situation. Timing is key and getting treatments on early to build plant health and protect potential are crucial. Then it’s about monitoring plant health and responding to the needs of the crop.


This will be a particularly interesting set of farm trials because Clive has a number of tools at his disposal to measure the crop’s response to Bridgeway as the season progresses. The Brix readings will measure sucrose – a higher Brix reading will indicate a crop that is photosynthesising more; leaf tissue tests will be able to assess if Bridgeway is helping to increase nutrient uptake. Some examples of these measures can be found: https://www.interagro.co.uk/case-st...chieve-milling-specification-in-winter-wheat/


Very much looking forward to monitoring Clive’s progress.


For anyone looking for more info on Bridgeway or a copy of our product guides please visit:

https://www.interagro.co.uk/product/bridgeway/

Many thanks.
 

fudge

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire.
AD gets a bad name from the 'bad' people in the industry. It's the same in farming. Done properly, sustainably and sensibly it's fantastic news for a farm and its soils. As Lee mentions above. The benefits are very similar to having cattle on the farm. Topping one up with an element of food waste or soup is the icing on the cake too. It's carbon cycle is actually very good, as is the ratio for energy in, for energy out. If they are run as they should, with a sensible crop grown locally.

Just to add, I'm told sludge cake will also be "killing my soil" having used a vast amount for 6 years. I can report that this is far from the case.
Is AD economic without subsidy though?
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Hi, I’m Stuart Sutherland, Technical Manager at Interagro and will be following Clive’s Bridgeway experience with great interest. Also here to answer any technical questions you might have.


Delivering value through innovation is at the heart of what we do, and that means working collaboratively with farmers, on their soils, on their cropping systems to really put our products to the test. We were therefore delighted when Clive got in touch with a proposal to really put Bridgeway through its paces.


We were keen to broaden the number of scenarios Clive is testing because with the experience we have developed and with a greater understanding now of the role of amino acids in plant health, we strongly believe that early applications at T0 and T1 are key to protect potential. Is it likely that Bridgeway applications will need topping up as the season develops? – Yes, quite possibly, particularly if conditions later in the season become stressful for the crop. However, none of us have a crystal ball so we will see what happens. It is better to have the Bridgeway on to protect against stress.


As with farming generally, biostimulants aren’t an exact science, it does depend on the field situation. Timing is key and getting treatments on early to build plant health and protect potential are crucial. Then it’s about monitoring plant health and responding to the needs of the crop.


This will be a particularly interesting set of farm trials because Clive has a number of tools at his disposal to measure the crop’s response to Bridgeway as the season progresses. The Brix readings will measure sucrose – a higher Brix reading will indicate a crop that is photosynthesising more; leaf tissue tests will be able to assess if Bridgeway is helping to increase nutrient uptake. Some examples of these measures can be found: https://www.interagro.co.uk/case-st...chieve-milling-specification-in-winter-wheat/


Very much looking forward to monitoring Clive’s progress.


For anyone looking for more info on Bridgeway or a copy of our product guides please visit:

https://www.interagro.co.uk/product/bridgeway/

Many thanks.



Thanks for getting the thread back on topic ................. its has rather drifted (several times and directions !)

I have a question - how long after application would you suggest I compares Brix or had tissue test done ? ie how long before you would expect to see a difference (if any) ?
 

jonnyjon

Member
Ok, so you're dodging the question.My comment was a broadly sweeping statement and I hoped for a reaction!

Ruminants make use of farm land that nothing else will - that's one of the holes in the vegan argument. Their inefficient feed conversion ratio means we have a good demand for feed grains. In well managed grazing (mob stocking) the manure is more evenly distributed and there is greater use of the growing fodder.

On my farm, just putting the water & outer fencing in place runs to hundreds of thousands of pounds for grazing that has a lower economic return than crops. It is hard to justify the investment - I can make more doing it with cover crops and bought in manures, accepting that a stock farm is buying in fertiliser in the form of animal feeds that helps balance the export of nutrients aboard grain lorries. A return of livestock will have to be gradual, with electric fencing, some water bowsers with the gradual investment in corridor/access fencing & water mains.
I'm not dodging the question, just not able to explain what I'm mean. A grazing animal brings far more to the ecosystem than we understand so imv a cow cannot be judged on it's food conversion abilities, it is way more complex than that, many people, who know far more than I ever will, say that they are simply vital to the health of the ecosystem. I have no doubt that the widespread removal and/ or mismanagement of grazing animals from our land is playing a huge part in the problems that we are facing with pests, disease, climate challenges etc. Fencing, lack of roi , lack of stock man skills etc etc are real challenges but that doesn't change the fact that these animals are vital so they can't be judged on their food conversion efficiency, a fish might be better but it can't graze grass so can't bring the soil health benefits that a ruminant brings
 
Thanks for getting the thread back on topic ................. its has rather drifted (several times and directions !)

I have a question - how long after application would you suggest I compares Brix or had tissue test done ? ie how long before you would expect to see a difference (if any) ?

What difference are you expecting to see using a Brix refractometer? You going to measure the sugars in a Wheat plant? Do we need sweet tasting wheat leaves in May?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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